It has become desirable in the field of floor coverings and in particular in office buildings and hospitals for interior designers and architects to design floors which are compatible with the design theme of the furniture, floor plan and wall covering layout selected by the designer. In order to create an appropriate floor design, it has become necessary to use different colors and/or patterns of floor covering material (e.g. carpet, vinyl tile or linoleum floor covering material). This is accomplished by cutting out desired shapes of one color and/or pattern of floor covering material and inserting corresponding shapes of another color and/or pattern of floor covering material. Before now, this process was accomplished in one of two manners. The first was to use expensive machinery connected to an autocad system to cut precise shapes of a first floor covering material and bond in new shapes of a second floor covering material. This machinery is located off-site, i.e. at a site other than the site of installation. Hence, there is significant delays and additional expense in shipping the desired floor covering materials to the off-site location to have the floor covering materials cut to the specifications of the designer or architect. Obviously, this process is disadvantageous because of its expense and the fact that it prolongs the time necessary to complete the installation. The second manner is to attempt to cut the material out by hand. This is extremely difficult and time consuming. Further, this process generally creates a sloppy looking finished product even when performed by a highly skilled artisan. A template may be used in this process. However, the template is pre-configured and, therefore, can only cut one specific pattern. Hence, there exists a significant need for a method and apparatus for forming decorative patterns in floor coverings which overcome the substantial and numerous inherent disadvantages of the prior art.